Users will not part with cash for content

Companies that produce online content have long feared that if they attempt to charge for access to their sites, users will simply switch to alternative, free services, and researchers said today that impression is probably correct.

A report from Forrester Research said that much online content may have no intrinsic value that can be turned into cash payments from users, and that companies should instead focus on the more indirect value for their efforts.

Researchers said that online media companies needed to realise that for most users, new media sources are an addition to their regular media diet rather than an exclusive source. Users might therefore be more inclined to part with new media than with the money necessary to access it.

Forrester broke down the possible benefits of an online presence into three categories with the top level, "payment pushers", being new media projects that users pay outright to access.

The next level were "relationship reapers", or projects that benefited a company by creating an exclusive relationship with a user and also produced ad revenues and small per-user payments.

Finally, there were "brand builders" - currently the most familiar form of content on the internet - that return brand awareness and ad revenues to the company.

"Most content providers will be relationship reapers or brand builders in new media. Television stations and local newspapers have the biggest opportunities to drive user payments, while radio must reconcile itself to alternative revenue streams," the report said.